Alfred Wallis at Home

WHO WAS ALFRED WALLIS? Alfred Wallis lived in and spent much of his life at sea. He was born in 1855 and first sailed as a cabin boy on a ship at the age of nine. Working on deep sea fishing boats, he travelled around Cornwall and the Atlantic Ocean, going as far as Newfoundland, off the east coast of North America. Alfred Wallis then become a scrap-yard merchant in St Ives in Cornwall. He never had any training as an artist and only took up painting in his 70s, to keep himself company after the death of his wife.

EVENTS AND EXPERIENCES Alfred Wallis’ drawings and paintings are full of expression and capture the immediate and direct experiences of life at sea. Those who knew him said he would speak of his paintings as ‘events’. His love of the ships that he sailed can be felt in his artwork and in how he wrote about his experiences:

“each boat of that fleet had a soul, a beautiful soul shaped like a fish” SHAPES AND MATERIALS KEEPING IN TOUCH Alfred Wallis didn’t have much money for and Christopher Wood, two art materials, so he used what he had most friends and artists involved in the modern available to him, it’s part of what makes his art scene in London, met Alfred Wallis on a artwork so interesting. Most of his pictures trip to St Ives in 1928. They were inspired by are painted on old boards, cardboard or his artwork and shared it with many of their packaging cases, often from the greengrocers. friends in London, including , the Another artist, Ben Nicholson said: creator of Kettle’s Yard. Jim Ede and Alfred Wallis never met, but they wrote lively letters “He would cut out the top and bottom of an to each other over many years. old cardboard box… into irregular shapes, using each shape as the key to the movement in a painting, and using the colour and ACTIVITY texture of the board as the key to its colour Take some time to think about someone POSTCARD and texture.” you haven’t seen for a while, could be a family member, a neighbour or friend PAINTING FROM MEMORY If the box showed through at the end, from the park. Think about what you Ships and seascapes were what Alfred Wallis that colour would become the part of the would tell them if they were here – about knew best. He never went outside to paint painting too. something you’ve seen or done, a funny from life, but instead painted from his joke you heard, or maybe an imagined memory, recalling the boats and ships he ACTIVITY story of adventures. Create a postcard for that person. had seen and sailed on. Find some old cardboard at home, a All you need is some card, cut into a “what i do mosley is what use To Bee box or some packaging. Think about the rectangle shape! On one side you need out of my own memery what we may shape you have. Does it have interesting space to write their address and put on never see again” edges? Are there bits you want to a stamp. Fill the other side with words or Alfred Wallis in a letter to Jim Ede, April 6 1936 tear away? Now make a drawing or drawings of all the things you would tell painting of the view from your window, that person. When you’re finished, pop it ACTIVITY but making it fit into the shape of your in the post to them! Think of somewhere you have travelled cardboard. What happens to the image? to and draw it from your memory. First page: It could be a holiday, the park, or your You could even try painting around Alfred Wallis standing at the door of his journey to school. Let your memory a whole box, or on an empty jar cottage in St. Ives, Cornwall. Photo © Tate shape the drawing – like Alfred Wallis, or bottle. How can you use Ship with seven men, net and gulls, n.d. you could draw your favourite parts of the shape to tell parts of 187 x 279 mm the memory bigger than everything else, a story? Second page: or choose the colours according to how Land, fish and motor vessel, n.d. you remember feeling. 375 x 374 mm Left: Boats under Saltash Bridge Try collaging with layers of papers, (Royal Albert Bridge), c.1935-37 different layers could be different pieces 300 x 500 mm of a memory. You could draw over the Above: paper layers, or maybe it is the shapes and Two ships and steamer sailing past a port (Falmouth and St. Anthony lighthouse), c.1931 colours that give the sense of the memory? 263 x 409 mm A DAILY PRACTICE HOW TO MAKE YOUR SKETCHBOOK Despite the success of his artwork, Alfred Wallis spend the final year of his life, living You’ll need paper (a mix of colours and in a workhouse. His friends would send textures is good, but anything will do) him art materials – sketchbooks, pencils, A hole punch crayons and paints. In these sketchbooks he A stick (lollipop stick is good) continued to recall and sketch his memories Scissors and String of the sea, shore and Cornish landscape. Although he only started painting at the age of 70, he painted every day and made many  Gather all your papers hundreds of artworks. together and make two rows of holes along one ACTIVITY side. You need an odd Most artists find it important to try number of holes, five is and do something creative every day, good for small book. even if it’s a little sketch or writing  Place the stick in down an idea or thought. Sketchbooks between the holes and are brilliant for collecting these small hold in place creative acts. Best of all they are simple and cheap to make yourself!  Thread your string through the end hole. Have a go at making your own. Keep a finger length Collect the experiences of the things piece out so you can tie around you: draw views from your it off at the end window, the shape of leaves, map out walks around where you live or stories  Thread the string from your imagination. Try making A through all the holes, criss crossing it from top sketchbooks of different sizes with to bottom all the way different kinds of paper. Carry them along, like A or B. Like with you and start a daily practice. you would tie a shoelace B  Make sure you pull the string tight to keep your stick in place. Tie the If you can, check online for more info ends together and trim. and inspiration: kettleyard.co.uk Or visit us in person to see the Alfred Wallis Rediscovered exhibition 24 October 2020 – 3 January 2021 We would love to see how Alfred Wallis has inspired you. This activity sheet was kindly supported by The Arts Society Cambridge. Share your creations: @kettlesyard or email us with feedback: [email protected]